Special to the Reading Eagle: Sandi Yanisko | Annarose Ingarra-Milch uses a balloon Thursday to demonstrate how to let go of the past. She was among the panelists at the women's roundtable sponsored by the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce.

Special to the Reading Eagle: Sandi Yanisko | Denise Nakano, NBC10 weekend anchor, moderates the Tri-County Area Women's Roundtable, which was hosted by the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce and held at the Spring Hollow Golf Club, Spring City.

Special to the Reading Eagle: Sandi Yanisko | Panelist Penny Zenker speaks Thursday during the Tri-County Area Women's Roundtable, which was hosted by the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce and held at the Spring Hollow Golf Club, Spring City.

Roundtable offers audience members advice on improving lives

Four women urged and empowered other women to take control of their lives Thursday night.

The third annual Tri-County Area Women's Roundtable, hosted by the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce, invited women to hear the speakers, who strive to make their lives the best they can be.Denise Nakano, NBC10 weekend anchor, introduced the women and moderated the event at the Spring Hollow Golf Club, Spring City.The first of the women to speak was Annarose Ingarra-Milch, owner of ROI Training & Consulting, Reading.She presented four diamonds of inspiration on a slide show because, she said, bullet points were too boring.The diamonds were: change your perspective; let go of the past; take control of your future; and have a gratitude attitude.Ingarra-Milch illustrated how she lets go of her past by popping balloons with memories written on it.One particular memory she shared was when she was 13 and at a lake with her friends in their bathing suits when boys arrived and sat next to them."The cutest one sat next to me - of course - and he said, 'Annarose, you have hair on your chest.' Well, it broke my heart," she said."And what I always write is, Walter; that was his name," she added with a smile.Vali G. Heist, owner of The Clutter Crew, Mohnton, defines herself as an author, speaker and CRAP expert.When she says CRAP, she means Clutter that Robs Anyone of Pleasure."My husband is in my book; it's page 23," she said. "And it says that coaching four sports gave Bob hours of joy and hundreds of T-shirts that he'll never wear again. And they're all up in our attic."She explained, in summary, that to be happy, people should get rid of anything that doesn't make them happy."Every purchase you bring through the doors has strings attached to it," she said, explaining that items need to be assembled, cleaned, cared for, etc.Penny Zenker, a business coach and creator of "P10: Productivity Accelerator System," tied in her talk with what the previous speakers said and detailed how time productivity can improve a woman's life.She focuses on four core drivers of energy management to help make time management successful."They're purpose, focus, language and physiology," she said. "Because it's how we show up for our time that makes all the difference."Last to speak was Melissa Dietrich, membership manager at Longwood Gardens, who talked about the importance of transitions.How a person chooses to react to a transition can bolster or hinder their career, according to Dietrich."We can see these transitions as an opportunity to make a difference," she said. "We can see them as a professional and take responsibility for our own career."We're the only ones responsible to make ourselves happy."Contact Gabbie O'Grady: 610-371-5021 or gogrady@readingeagle.com.